"Woman, Mama."
"Eh?" Mama tipped her head sideways and frowned.
"Gina is not a girl. She's a full-grown woman." As Gina crossed the grass coming toward the back door, a smile tugged at my lips. "And yes, I love her."
When I first got on the call with Mama, Gina had been at my side and exchanged a few words with my mother before leaving, to give us some privacy.
Deep concern shone from Mama’s eyes. "Does this mean you are going to settle with her?"
"There are some things we need to work out, but yes, she is the one."
"I hope this does not mean we won't get a chance to meet her before you do anything significant."
The disappointment in my mother's voice and her eyes was clear, but I wasn't going to make her any promises I couldn't keep. I raised my gaze toward the door Gina had gone through and another smile came to my lips.
She came back to lean on the door jamb, drinking from a glass. Gina smacked her lips, then threw me a kiss and disappeared again.
I looked at my mother, who'd been talking on the screen all this time. Gina had distracted me, so I missed everything Mama said.
"So, when are we meeting her?" Mama wagged her finger at me. "And don't tell me I have already met her. This Skype business is not a proper way to meet a person. You cannot tell a lot about them on a screen."
I caught the inside of my cheek between my teeth, because I didn't want her to know I was amused. Mama's excuse about not meeting Gina properly was designed to ensure I'd go home sooner. Spending time with someone was different from a few minutes of conversation on a Skype call. Mama was right, but I was also convinced Gina was the woman for me.
"Kofi, will you promise me something?"
"What's that?" I asked, looking into the eyes my family said were so much like mine.
"That you won't get married to her before you bring her home."
I frowned, and Mama continued speaking. "That is not an unreasonable request."
It wasn't, but my word was my bond and I wasn't about to put my life on hold out of respect for my parents.
"It isn't, Mama. What I can promise you is that I won't marry her before telling you and Papa."
"So you are going to marry a strange woman before you introduce her to your family?"
"She's not a 'strange woman' and I'm not promising anything."
"This America has changed both you and Kobe. You do not come home and your poor mother does not get to see you until ... Kofi, are you listening to me."
"Yes, I am, Mama." The truth was that I hadn't heard anything she said after she started complaining. I was used to the cycle of our conversations. Mama usually found out how I was and what I was doing before she listed all the reasons I should return to Ghana.
Gina was a new problem she did not see coming and she was worried about what my feelings for this woman meant. For all I knew, Mama had picked out a local woman with the intention of me marrying her. Things and times had changed so much that the way of our ancestors was not viable for me.
When I got married, it would be to a woman of my choosing, not one my parents picked out for me. The advantage my mother had over me was that I loved and respected her. If there was any disadvantage to this situation, it was that I was strong-willed like my father and would not let my mother guilt me into doing what she wanted.
"You are worrying too much, Mama. Things will go exactly the way they should when the time is right."
"I just want you to be happy, Kofi."
"Mama, trust me, I am."
She sighed and I knew she had a lot more she wanted to say, but wouldn't since she didn't know where Gina went and when she'd come back.
"When are you going back to America?"
"Soonish."
